Facing severe criticism after two law students were arrested under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act), the Kerala government has stated that it will appoint a committee headed by a high court judge to look into the charges. The two law students were arrested on Friday night allegedly for distributing pro-Maoist articles.
The state government will only give permission for prosecution after the committee checks the matter, reports Asianet News. According to reports, the present government had quashed six UAPA cases that were charged when the UDF government was in power. The UAPA has often been described as a ‘draconian rule’ that is misused by governments, even allowing citizens to be branded as terrorists.
While Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala had slammed the arrest earlier, leaders of the ruling LDF too has lashed out at the government for imposing UAPA on the law students.
According to reports, CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran stated that such a decision will not be accepted by people, especially when a Left government is in power in the state. “The norms that should be followed while charging UAPA was flouted in this case. It should be an officer in the rank of IG who should be registering such a case and not like what happened here,” The New Indian Express reported Kanam to have said.
Meanwhile, as per the report, CPI(M) Polit-bureau member MA Baby too slammed the police’s action by stating that though the state government and CPI(M) know that UAPA is a ‘black’ legislation, a section of police officials are not convinced yet. He also said there should be a review of the decision.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has asked the state police chief for an explanation on the matter. These arrests come days after three persons, suspected to be Maoists, were killed in an alleged encounter at Attapadi in Palakkad and two were killed on Tuesday by the anti-insurgency force of the Kerala police.